FORT WORTH – Dario Franchitti held off his teammate Scott Dixon by a half a car length to win the first IndyCar Series Firestone Twin 275 race on Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Franchitti and Dixon, along with Will Power and Takuma Sato were locked in a four-way battle for the lead during the final laps of the race.

A late caution was given on Lap 92 when rookies Wade Cunningham and Charlie Kimball crashed exiting the fourth turn onto the front stretch.

During the caution most of the 30-car field pitted for tires and fuel. When the race was restarted with 10 laps to go, Franchitti, Dixon and Power started their nose-to-tail battle around the swift 1.5-mile oval.

Franchitti was able to hold off their challenges and when he crossed the finish line, the margin of was .0537 of a second.

“You know, I think with Scott, he was a challenge anytime he felt was safe,” Franchitti said. “More importantly, anytime he thought he could make it stick. You know what I mean? I think Scott’s biggest problem was he couldn’t challenge without opening the door for Will, which he didn’t want to do. I think he was in a bit of a tough spot there. Talking about guys you can race with, I can race with Scott inches apart, no problem.”

Dario Franchitti celebrates after winning the first of twin races at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Photo courtesy of Chris Jones/IndyCar Series.

Dixon took second, Power third and Sato was fourth. It was Dixon’s third top-five finish this season.

“It’s tough when cars on the bottom have new tires, but I didn’t try to pass Dario until the last lap,” Dixon said. “Dario’s car, the Huggies car is quick and ws the class of the field. We were doign the best we can with the No. 9 Target car. The race just blew buy. It was hard keeping count of how many laps were left.”

“It’s hot an intense,” Power said. “It was a hard battle at the end the No. 12 Verizon car was really good, but Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon finished ahead of me again. The next one is a lottery and I believe starting at the front helps me a lot.”

Danica Patrick finished in 16th and was one lap down at the finish.

Franchitti led 110 of the 114 laps. Dixon, Miera, Castroneves and Tagliani all led one lap. Franchitti’s victory was his 28th of his career. He moves past Johnny Rutherford for 10th on the all-time win list.

The fastest lap of the race was by E.J. Viso on Lap 3 when he recorded a 24.2205 seconds, 216.263 mph lap. The fastest lap by a race leader was Dario Franchitti on Lap 114 when he was clocked at 24.4860 seconds, 213.918 mph.

After a 45-minute intermission, the second segment of the Twin 275s will be held. Tony Kanaan drew the numer one starting position. Starting on the front row next to him will be the rookie Wade Cunningham.

Alex Tagliani of Canada, driver of the #77 Bowers & Wilkins/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Honda, and Dario Franchitti of Scotland, driver of the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda, lead the field to the start of race one of the IZOD IndyCar Series Firestone Twin 275s at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. (Courtesy photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images).